The Trouble isn't Over
by Mangarific
Summary: It's several years after the war, and Katara is the new Queen of the North. But she knows something...and it means trouble. Who does she go for for help? Team Avatar, of course! ...Including Zuko?  Zutara, Sokki,Taang ...gets better past the introduction
1. Introduction pt 1

**Not owned by me, duh. (I WISH! *sobs*) (Zutara WILL show up soon….just not in the very beginning.**

Katara woke with an impressive yawn, her sapphire eyes blurred by morning. It was six years after the war had ended, and five days before her twentieth birthday. The thought was both scary and exciting. And somewhere deep in the pit of her stomach, she had the feeling that something big was going to happen. Something….big.

As she descended the marble stairway of the southern ice palace, she heard the disgruntled cries of her brother carrying from the kitchen. Rolling her eyes, she followed the noise.

"Sokka, what the hell is going on?" She asked, irritated, as she entered the room. Sokka immediately shut up and glanced at her, eyes wide. Katara raised an eyebrow. "What? What is it…?" Before Sokka could make up a reply, Suki jumped in from across the counter.

"It's nothing, Katara, really." She said, calmly raising her tea to her lips, "Your brother is just being ridiculous and overprotective. As always." Sokka turned back to his wife, looking both embarrassed and angry. Suki paid him no mind and adjusted her silken morning kimono; but her words had peaked Katara's interest.

"About what, exactly?" She inquired cautiously. Sokka gestured for Suki to be quiet, but she answered her anyway.

"You'll see. It's just a simple birthday present….that your brother considers you unsuitable for." Sokka slumped against the table, exasperated. "Either that or he's jealous." She finished quickly. Sokka cried out defensively and jerked his head up, causing his elbow to slip and smash his face against the counter. Ignoring her brother's predictable mishap, Katara looked to Suki excitedly.

"Really? That's…awesome! Who is it from?" Suki looked back down at her tea and replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, your grandfather should be here soon to talk to you about it." She slipped her a small, knowing smile. Katara's face lit up with a grin. She knew that that morning's gut feeling would hold true!_ Pakku_ was coming!

Four hours had passed before the horns were blown to signal Pakku's arrival. Katara scurried fervently into the throne room; she had been anxiously awaiting his visit ever since Suki had informed her that morning.

She had even dressed up especially for the occasion! Her hair was done up an elaborate plait, and she had dressed in one her favorite ceremonial robes. It was of a deep purple fabric, with large, intricate silver koi fish stitched along the seams and all down the sleeves. The under layer of the dress was made of cerulean chiffon ruffles. The Northern water-tribe's king was definitely getting an extremely warm welcome.

As the main doors were opened, Katara restrained herself from leaping off her seat and running forward for a hug. The King entered surrounded by guards, obviously in high spirits. Katara returned his beaming grin.

"Grandfather Pak-! I mean, great leader of the North!" Sokka called, rising from his throne. "It's great to see you again."

"Same goes to you, Sokka." Pakku replied, skipping the formalities. Sokka smiled toothily and gestured to his right.

"I would like to introduce you to my wife, Suki of Kyoshi Island. Or rather, the most beautiful Queen of the southern water tribe EVER!" He declared proudly. Suki gave a sheepish smile and bowed to her relatively new 'grandfather'.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't make it to you wedding last year…." Pakku said, "We were still very busy repairing our city. As I'm sure you can relate to…" Suki nodded again and waved an emerald green-and-gold clad arm, as if to say no problem.

At this point, Katara found herself growing impatient; the prospect of receiving a life changing twentieth birthday present was decidedly important to her. But her good manners held her back from any kind of emotional outburst.

Luckily, however, she didn't have to wait too long for a chance to speak with her grandfather. Within the next half hour, they were both within the living room, chattering happily about what had happened in their lives since the last time they had seen each other, which had been four years before.

But the high spirited blabbering slowed down a bit when Pakku brought up the subject of Kanna.

"You know, Katara, when your grandmother died…" He started, putting a hand to his brow, "I began to take another look at my life." Katara nodded, face drawn. She remembered the day she had gotten the letter informing her of her grandmother's death. It had been only a few months before her brother's wedding…and only a few weeks after his coronation. It had almost crushed him.

"Well, my dear…it has made me realize that I'm not getting any younger." Katara quickly looked up at him, ready to protest. But she could see in his haggard expression that he wasn't up for any kind of fight anymore. She began to see how much he had aged since Kanna had passed.

"Oh, Pakku…." She whispered, concerned. She laid her hand on his shoulder and gave him a long look. She knew what he said was true. "Is…is that why you're here?" She asked. "To ask dad to take the throne in the north?" Pakku looked at her searchingly, and smiled a bit.

"You catch on quick." Katara raised her eyebrows.

"But, no, not your father." He went on. "He has done enough already. I wouldn't ask him to take over a nation _again_." Katara was quiet for a moment, her eyes wide.

"But, if it's not dad, then you mean…..ME?" She cried out, shocked. "This is what Suki and Sokka were arguing about this morning?" Pakku grinned and nodded.

"Yes. However, I don't remember ever telling Suki to let Sokka hear about it!" He said with a laugh. Katara felt like she had been struck by lightning….in a slightly good way. SHE was going to become a _queen_!

"When do I start?" She said, trying not to sound _too_ excited about Pakku's late-life crisis.

"On your birthday."

Katara's mouth gaped wide. "Oh yes. You only have five days left in the south."

**I know it's a weird place to end the chapter, and it's actually kind of early, but I'll explain why she becomes the queen in the next chapter. And sorry about the lack of 'ACTION!' That'll come soon, too. This IS only the introduction chappy. PLEASE REVIEW! :DDD**


	2. Introduction pt 2

**A/N: I don't own Avatar. Otherwise Kataang wouldn't ever have even been HINTED at. Because it's ridiculous. So ha. :P **

_On the night of her Twentieth Birthday…_

Katara entered her bedroom for what would probably be the last time in a long one. Exhausted after a lengthy, and filling, birthday banquet, she was looking forward to a good night's sleep. Walking over to the pile of trunks bent for the North Pole, she gave the packing job a thoughtful once over. But as she was going through the list of things that she would need to bring in her head, she noticed a strange rustling noise coming from one of her larger trunks of clothing. Raising an eyebrow, she circled around to the back of the pile and bent down next to a man with his head stuck in an opened trunk.

"Sokka," Katara said calmly, "What are you doing in my clothing?" Yelping in surprise, Sokka whipped himself out of the trunk and faced his sister, looking terrified. And guilty.

"Katara!" He cried, scrambling to find the words to explain himself, "How did you get in here without me knowing?" Katara, her voice venomously nonchalant, said,

"All that fabric in your ears must've muffled my entrance. And shouldn't _I_ be asking that question?"

"I was making sure you had everything! I don't want you to forget something that could be really important! What if it was, like, life-or-death important?" He replied loudly. Katara looked at him, slightly shocked at his honest answer. There was a moment of silence.

"What?" Sokka mumbled abashedly. Katara smiled at him with a warm twinkle in her eyes.

"You were looking out for me." She said finally.

"What? No! I was just-!"

"You WERE!" She insisted, "You're going to MISS me!" At this, Sokka looked taken aback.

"Well of COURSE I am! You're my baby sister!" Katara awed and wrapped him up in a suffocating hug, to which Sokka got a bit embarrassed. But he suddenly pulled away when he remembered something that he had discovered earlier.

"But that's right!" He cried triumphantly, thrusting an accusatory finger into her face. "I DID find something interesting in here!" Katara's face fell; she knew what was coming next. "WHAT," He shouted, pulling something from the bowels of the trunk, "the HELL is THIS!"

Katara looked at the flimsy article of clothing that he had drawn from the trunk and gulped. A sheepish smile grew on her blushing face as she slowly tried to retrieve the white Item.

_"Oh, _thatttt…." She replied, smoothing out the slightly wrinkled silk. "It's just something I treated myself to recently." Sokka drew back, a disgusted look on his face.

"You mean you don't have an excuse? You were actually gonna USE that thing!" Katara nodded slightly in response. The atrocity in question happened to be a fine specimen of lingerie. It was a ribbed white corset, with matching sheer tights. The whole thing was accented with large pearls.

Sokka, decidedly fed up with the whole ordeal, merely sighed and shrugged his shoulders dejectedly.

"As much as it pains me to think of my little sister in sexy underwear," He said with a shudder, "I guess I just have to face the fact that you're an adult now….and that you're leaving. I can't control you anymore." Katara refrained from correcting him on how he never really HAD. "Just don't let me hear about you actually putting that thing to use." He finished, cringing. Katara smiled sadly in reply; she knew how hard it was going to be to distance herself from her….fairly attached older brother. She was already starting to miss him.

The soon-to-be-crowned princess hugged him again as he got up to leave her. Sokka mumbled good night and rubbed her hair affectionately. She waited until he was at the end of the hallway before telling him that she actually had two more pieces of lingerie; a lacy black one and another constructed entirely from peahawk feathers. She made sure to close the door before he could get back to it.

But as she climbed into bed that night, Katara couldn't help but feel a little hollow in the very pit of her stomach. It was extremely difficult to say goodbye to her childhood home.

_Nine months later, in a small village near the Fire Nation capitol…_

Han Sue waltzed in through the front door, a large poster clutched under his arm. The rest of us looked up from our game of cards, Han's expression being much more telling than our miserably slow pastime.

"Hello, boys!" Han Sue called cheerily as he leaned up against the kitchen table. We all mumbled our welcome, still looking inquisitively down at the poster in his hand. "Oh, you see I've brought something?" He said in a way that was irritatingly condescending. Suddenly slamming the poster face up on the table, He cried out happily, "Check THIS out!"

We all gazed down at the poster, obviously torn from the notice board in the center of town, and drew in a sharp breath. The poster was an announcement for the arrival of Queen Katara of the northern water tribe.

Jin, one of the younger boys, looked expectantly around at the rest of us.

"Uh, you guys?" He asked, "What's so special about her?" The room got suddenly quiet as we all gaped incredulously at Jin.

"WHAT!" My question began a torrent of passionate responses.

"Only the most famous, POWERFUL waterbender in the WORLD!"

"Yeah! Some say she's an even better than the AVATAR!"

"And she's GORGEOUS."

"And available!" We all nudged each other's sides and smirked at this. Hey, we could dream!

Jin, his blush fading, still looked a bit confused. The rest of the guys obviously knew more about the water-tribe war hero than he did…them being around her age, anyway. Jin was really only 14. Han Sue had noticed his bewilderment, and decided to shed a little more light on the subject.

Waving his arms impatiently to try and quiet the (rather perverted) chatter over the newly crowned queen, He started in on his explanation.

"Jin, and anyone else who might still have some questions, here's a little bit about Queen Katara." We all leaned in closer to listen. "See, the queen has only been on the northern throne for a couple months." Some of us nodded; we knew that much already. But Han Sue still went on.

"She was originally a _southern _princess. She lived there most of her life. I heard around town that, after the end of the war, she went back home and helped to rebuild…and now the southern water tribe is one of the most prosperous countries in the WORLD. Which proves that, besides being ultra sexy and super powerful, she's pretty smart too. This, as you may suspect, probably means that it won't be long before the northern tribe catches up."

At this we all started muttering to each other, starting to feel uneasy about this new addition to the world's league of royalty. Did the water tribe now pose a threat to OUR nation…? But Han quieted us down again, eager to finish his story.

"Already, the northern tribe is talking fondly of its new leader. I have some *ahem* magazines," He looked away when he said this, like he was obviously hiding something,** A/N: Porn….and girly avatarverse equivalents of People**.

"And some of them contain some insight as to what's going on up there. Apparently, suitors are already throwing themselves at her feet (although she hasn't really accepted any of them yet), and she's getting invites to meet the royalty of places all over the globe. The country's fish exports are exploding, she's started an impressive school for female waterbending students, she's said to have the largest and most, and I quote, 'fabulous and expensive' closet in the world, and she's practically swimming in her own power. And this is just within a couple of months of being on the throne."

As Han Sue finished his anecdote, we found ourselves sitting in dead silence. We were a little…intimidated. I was actually kind of wondering why Han Sue was looking so happy at the moment.

"What's wrong, you guys?" He asked, obviously warming up to a punch line. We all looked at him like he was stupid. Because, well….we really had no idea what he was getting at. "Don't you understand what I'm saying?" He sighed derisively. "It's her twentieth year. She was recently crowned." We still didn't completely understand. Han shook his head mockingly and smirked.

"She needs to get married within the next three months. And to someone of….wealthy bearing. And she's coming to a nation with an equally recently crowned Fire lord." It suddenly dawned on us.

This new queen might be ever more awesome than we thought.

**A/N: Sorry if this makes Katara sound TOO super cool, but I think that it's possible. She has that much drive! :D**

**Please review, next chapter is back to Katara….and she'll finally see Zuko again! (Oh, and I decided to keep her reason to be crowned a secret for now…maybe to be revealed in the next chapter?)**


	3. Chapter 1

**A/N- I don't own Avatar. :P**

**Oh, and guess what reviewers? I actually listen to you! :D (So if you have any 'FRESH!' Ideas, throw em' my way! Because, as was requested, I am now writing longer chapters. (Sorry for wasting your time with that, I know it's just such exciting information!)**

Zuko stood beside the sun-beaten harbor, waiting impatiently for the arrival of his old friend….and enemy. Standing beside him was his long time on-and-off squeeze, Mai, **A/N- The butthole, **who was currently brooding internally. She obviously wasn't anticipating a visitor as much as her Fire Lord was.

As they stood together in the severe heat, appreciating the fact that they weren't required to wear their heavy formal robes, Zuko found his thoughts drifting to that of his past relationship with this girl. As his mind conjured up her image, he felt his heart stiffen. He didn't know what it was about Katara, but he had the feeling that he liked her. Her vivaciousness and audacity was oddly…respectable, rather than annoying, and he had to admit that her maternal tendencies sparked a kind of yearning in him. But when he looked down at his current aficionada, he felt none of that. And yet, he couldn't get himself to abandon his love for her. If it could be considered that…

When he tried to express these uneasy feelings to his girlfriend, he put the words carefully before him so as not to make her suspicious of his faith to her. Mai, ever so loving, merely patted his shoulder and tried not to feel too covetous over the thought that this other woman might be inspiring more romantic feelings in Zuko than she ever had.

Imagine, then, the state of her mood when the designated lookout signaled the arrival of the Northern water tribe ship. Zuko's face brightened as he watched the magnificent ship come up over the horizon. Mai, as always, sighed. Only, this time it was a bit more angrily.

Once the ship had docked and all of the luggage had quickly been unloaded, a Water tribe warrior lowered a long wooden plank onto the port and announced the Queen's entrance. Katara appeared on deck, looking regal and exhausted from the lengthy travel that she had endured. The Queen of the north descended the plank elegantly and made towards the Fire nation couple, a warm smile painted on her shining face.

Zuko's eyes widened at the sight of the girl he had used to know, who had become such a beautiful woman. She wore a light cotton dress, the color of the sky, with long, billowing sleeves and a tall slit up one leg. Her plunging neckline was made modest by several large, stone necklaces that were piled above it. To Zuko, she seemed to walk in slow motion as a gentle sea breeze caused her dress to flutter and lifted her tumbling dark hair off her back.

Mai narrowed her eyes in disgust and slowly moved her crossed arms upwards, in order to hide her inadequate breasts. She looked over at Zuko and slapped the drool off of his blushing face. The Fire lord snapped out of his daze and smiled wider than anyone had seen him before.

"Katara." He said quietly once she had stopped before him and Mai. "It's been a…very long time." Katara laughed lightheartedly at his hello.

"Yeah, try six years!" Putting her hands on her hips and glancing around, Katara frowned. "Man, is it HOT over here! Is there anywhere we can go that I wouldn't have cause to sweat through my dress? It's new, you know." Despite Katara's jokes, Mai's face remained impassive. Zuko, however, got the message.

"Oh, yeah! I have transportation ready to take us up to the palace." He gestured to the Litter in question and headed towards it. Mai and Katara followed, both reluctant to strike up any kind of small talk with each other.

Stopping at the Litter, Mai turned to Zuko and raised an eyebrow.

"Zuko, why is there only one?" Zuko looked back at her and shrugged.

"I wanted to get to talk to Katara on the way. I made sure to bring one large enough for three people, so don't worry; you'll have space."

"Stop calling her Katara like you guys are all buddy buddy. This is a BUSINESS meeting, don't you remember? And besides," She said, grumbling, "The amount of SPACE I get is not the issue here." Zuko started in with an angry retort.

"I don't remember YOU ever receiving the right to tell me who my friends are! If you don't want to sit next to her because you're THAT jealous, then you can just walk!" Mai, bristling, followed up with another scathing insult, and Zuko kept on feeding the flames.

Katara, a little jilted from being caught in the middle of the couples bickering so soon after her arrival, decided to get hold of the situation herself.

"Uh, you guys?" The two kept up their argument. "YOU GUYS!" Katara screamed. Startled, the couple turned to her and shut up. Pinching the bridge of her nose and mumbling to herself about dealing with children, Katara looked to Zuko. "Can we PLEASE not argue right now? It is very important that we call a meeting at the palace. I have some extremely valuable information for you, and it could mean the destruction of a long-worked-for era of peace. Plus, I'm very tired, and I don't need to listen to you two fight….with all due respect." She finished quickly.

Zuko, obviously a bit embarrassed, gestured silently to the litter and helped Katara into it. He went after her, ignoring Mai, who climbed in without any offered aid. The rest of the ride was spent in silence, the tension within the curtained walls deafening.

Once outside of the magnificent Palace, Katara started to get excited. Peeking through the sheer curtains, her mouth gaped open slightly as they approached it….newly restored, obviously. (The war had not left it in the best of shape.) Now it was larger, livelier, and rich with color. She couldn't help but compare it to her own ice castle, however….and in her opinion, the castle was a bit more impressive.

But she was still awed by the fire nation's capitols transformation. Sitting back up inside of the Litter, her eyes bright, she turned to Zuko and spoke.

"The palace is so amazing! I see that you've been doing some work since the war yourself, eh?" Zuko smiled, his stomach doing flip flops at the sight of Katara's expression.

"Enjoying the scenery, huh?" He replied flirtatiously. Katara grinned back despite Mai's unapproving harrumphs.

But they had already reached the doorway; interrupting any further conversation. This time Katara gracefully refused help when they stepped from the litter, taking the more independent route. Mai was still denied a hand.

After settling down in the throne room, Zuko called for a meeting to begin. Mai, as well as the readers, were sent away at this time, much to their dismay. The information that the queen was to share was much too important and secretive to be made public just yet. ;)

Needless to say, what she had told the fire council had definitely not made a good impression with them. Emotions all around ranged from shock to anger. Zuko's was actually quite concerned.

"Are you sure about this, Katara?" He began after some silence. "I mean, I'm not trying to accuse you of lying, but…these are some pretty strong accusations that you're throwing around, here." Katara, her expression grave, handed him the letter that she had received about five months ago.

As he read further, Zuko's brow became more furrowed with thought.

"Alright, this is some pretty concrete evidence. But, what do you want us to do with it? The peace hasn't even gone on for a decade yet!" Katara looked down sadly and nodded.

"I understand your point of view; I had similar feelings when I first heard about this whole deal myself." She paused and bit her lip. "The truth us, Zuko…I came to ask if you and your nation would become the Water tribes ally, in case this proved to be valid. Which, unfortunately, it seems to be."

Zuko closed his eyes for a second before replying hesitantly.

"Let me think about it, Katara. I want to keep the peace and make sure that no one gets hurt, but I can't put my nation in jeopardy. Just…let me think about it."

"That's fine with me." Katara said. "Except, remember that I only have a few months before I must return to my tribe…and I still have to warn the others." Zuko nodded silently, obviously deep in thought.

"Alright. But how long do you plan on staying here?" He asked, almost hopefully. The corners of her mouth twitching up slightly, Katara said

"As long as it takes to get my answer…that's why you need to make it quick."

With this, Katara stood and waltzed out of the room. As she made her way towards one of the many extravagant guest rooms for a long awaited nap, she passed a sulky Mai in the hallway.

"Hey!" The fire nation girl called grudgingly from behind her. Katara spun around, a confused look on her tired face.

"Uh, hi Mai!" She said hesitantly. "What's…up?" Mai's eyes narrowed to slits as she leaned in closely and looked down at the innocent Queen.

"Just because you're a queen now doesn't mean that you're anything more than a peasant in my eyes." Katara raised an eyebrow and stood up straighter.

"Ok, before I beat the crap out of you…why are you telling me this, exactly?"

"Don't play dumber than you already are, KID. Stop making googly eyes at Zuko! A fire lord would never go after someone like you, anyway. So-so just give up!" Katara's eyes widened angrily.

"Ok, stop it! This is getting extremely petty. Mai, I don't like Zuko like that!" But even as she said that, she felt a bit of doubt in the bottom of her heart. Her cheeks reddening, she carried on in a harsh whisper. "You can think whatever you want Mai, but the truth is that I'm a QUEEN now. And you aren't. So watch yourself. I'm not the stuck up kind of royalty, but I still insist on being treated with respect. ESPECIALLY," She said, smirking, "When being spoken to by a PEASANT."

Mai, her eyes widening at the water tribe girls response to her emotional outburst, struggled to regain her composer. Still refusing to back down, she glared daggers at Katara, muttered under her breath, and stalked off. The Queen sighed and slumped against the wall, suddenly realizing how many feelings she was suppressing. Feelings about…Zuko. Even the sound of his name seemed to ignite something inside of her; make her smile. Her face bright red and her stomach suddenly a bit queasy, she finally headed up to bed. It had been a very, VERY tiring day.

The next morning, Katara woke refreshed and in high spirits, despite what had passed between her and Mai the night before. After donning a lilac blouse and a flowing white skirt, she made her way into the breakfast room. The servants handed her a cup of tea and plate of turtleduck eggs with heads bowed and backed quickly out of the room. As Katara lifted her cup of tea, she thanked the retreating kitchen hands profusely, a bit embarrassed at being treated so highly. Not that she wasn't treated well back up at the pole…the servants there were just more, friendly. In fact, she often made her own breakfasts.

Katara didn't have to wait long before she was joined by her host. Zuko walked into the room and wiped sweat from his brow, sighing enormously as he went. Slumping down at the table, he barked out at the servants.

"Get me five eggs, a bowl of fruit, and MEAT. And I mean a LOT of it. I am STARVING." The servants, obviously frazzled, hurried to obey. Katara, eyebrows raised, cleared her throat loudly. When Zuko looked over and realized that he wasn't alone, he stopped in his tracks. Something in the back of his eyes clicked, and he let out a shout of surprise.

"Katara! My God, you scared the crap out of me!" Katara started laughing halfway through his cry, and Zuko couldn't help but smile, too. Once she had settled down, Katara spoke.

"Well, good morning to you, too, Fire Lord Zuko! What were you doing training so early in the morning, may I ask?" Zuko shook himself to get over the entrancing sound of her laughter.

"How did you know I was training?"

"You're covered in sweat, and you just ordered a HUGE breakfast. You were obviously doing something strenuous." Katara said, amused. Zuko blushed and looked down at his newly arrived plate(s). He started shoveling food into his face to avoid embarrassing himself further. Katara was looking down at his plate-full of meats, eggs, and fruit, too, looking troubled. After a moment, she got up the courage to pose her question.

"Zuko…" She began hesitantly, "Why are you so mean to your servants?"

"Hm?" Zuko said, looking up from his meal. Swallowing his large spoonful of egg, he looked at her defensively. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, no, I'm not trying to be rude! I just…I'm not used to servants being treated like, I don't know…servants, I guess." Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm not!" She said throwing up her hands.

Zuko nodded a bit.

"Oh, don't worry, I get it." He said, pushing away his empty plate. "But, see, that's how it is here. We employ them, so they show us respect. It's not like we beat them or anything." Katara pursed her lips and "mm-hmm"ed reluctantly. Zuko knew that she still didn't completely agree with him, but he went on to his bowl of fruit anyway. Katara, understanding well enough that she shouldn't pursue that particular argument, decided to try and discuss her plans for the day.

"Ok, on to a new topic." She said, clasping her hands together. "I want to go out into the city! You know, without guards." Zuko looked at her beaming face and frowned a bit. He was honestly a bit surprised at her request.

"Uh…the city?" He started. "You mean, with the _peasants_?" Katara looked at him, offended. Crossing her arms, she replied, a bit bothered.

"What, you don't walk among your own people?"

"Well, no!" Zuko replied defensively. "It's-it's a safety issue. What if there was an assassin out there, just waiting for me to step out of the palace unattended?" Katara scoffed.

"Oh, you are NOT serious. Why would there be? You're the best thing that's happened to the Fire Nation in a long, LONG time." Zuko felt a bit flattered by her strangely awarded compliment.

"Well, if you really want to-"

"Great!" Katara interrupted. "Let's go out for lunch, my treat!" Zuko's eyes widened, and he felt a shy small start to grow on his formerly cross face.

"You mean…like, a date? Mai isn't going to like that." Katara laughed again, much to Zuko's dismay.

"Not like _that_! And even if she assumes it to be, screw Mai. SHE is not invited, so she doesn't have to know." She said with a wink. Zuko felt the stomach butterflies again. Getting up from the table and heading out to the courtyard, Katara called behind her happily. "See you in a bit!"

Zuko watched her leave, enraptured in the moment that had just passed. Realizing exactly what he had just agreed to, he put his head in his hands and groaned defeatedly. But even as he did, he felt those butterflies_. I think I…like her. _He moaned inwardly.

Either way, Mai was going to give him hell.

**A/N: It's moving! :D Keep replying and I'll keep writing, so….reply! Hope you enjoyed the Zutara there, by the way. (Exciting Zutara next chapter, just saying.)**


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